Newspapers today cover the story of a British woman accusing four UAE nationals of gang-raping her, the story of an expatriate that was stabbed to death in a Dubai club, and the story of a young couple having sex in a car on Sheikh Zayed Road.
In any other country in the world, this would not be surprising. But in the UAE it is. See, I remember a time just a few years ago, when we would not even dream of reading about such stories in newspapers. Tackling subjects such as murder, sex and rape (especially when UAE nationals are involved) was simply taboo.
This just goes to show you that there is some progress when it comes to journalistic freedom in this country. Although censorship still exists, we are now made aware of some of the crimes that are commited. The UAE is no longer depicted as this perfect place where nothing bad ever happens, which is a good thing.
Although Abu Dhabi and Dubai are generally safe cities (save the dangerous driving), we, as residents, need to be made aware of these issues.
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2 comments:
It does make me wonder where this is all going to lead to.
Either the press (and the public) is going to be allowed to continue to report such things, or there's going to be a massive crackdown that will take the censorship back a few years.
It's just weird that all of a sudden, reports like this have been allowed to be printed - almost like they're seeking justification to bring back draconian law.
You are so right Nzm...It's as if the media is trying to push the envelope and see how far it will go before someone tells them they've gone too far!
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